Michigan State basketball: Quad 1 and 2 resume continues to improve

The Michigan State basketball NCAA Tournament resume has improved recently with Indiana State moving back into Quad 1 territory.

The Michigan State basketball NCAA tournament resume needs some help now more than ever. The Spartans are likely still in the NCAA Tournament field, but they moved closer to the bubble after their two recent losses at home. However, their resume recently improved as past opponents have moved up in the NET rankings.

By now we all know the importance of earning Quad 1 and 2 wins as it pertains to MSU’s NCAA Tournament resume. This is one of the main criteria the selection committee uses when selecting and seeding teams in the NCAA Tournament.

For clarity sake, a Quad 1 win looks at your opponents NET ranking and is defined as playing a top 30 team at home, a top 50 team at a neutral site, and a top 75 team on the road. The easiest way to earn a Quad 1 win is by beating a team that fits this criteria already. That is what occurred when MSU beat Illinois a few weeks ago.

However, the Spartans just got another Quad 1 win back and saw a positive movement in their Quad 2 record as well thanks to previous opponents moving up in the NET rankings.

Indiana State once again is a Quad 1 win

Michigan State beat Indiana State back in December and at the time it earned the Spartans a Quad 1 win. However, the Sycamores have lost a couple games recently and that moved them out of the top 30 in the NET rankings for a little bit. That recently changed after they’ve rattled off a few wins, and MSU now has its fourth Quad 1 win back as Indiana State is now No. 28 in the NET rankings.

The other three Quad 1 wins on MSU’s resume are Baylor, Illinois, and Maryland. The Baylor and Illinois wins aren’t in danger of becoming Quad 2, but the Indiana State and Maryland wins are. As mentioned, the Sycamores need to stay top 30 for that win to stay Quad 1. Maryland, however, needs to stay top 75 in the NET rankings for MSU’s road win to stay Quad 1. The Terps are currently  No. 69, so a bad loss for them could really hurt MSU. These are two teams Michigan State fans will definitely want to see finish strong.

Minnesota provides some help as well

Quad 1 losses as well as Quad 2 wins are important data points as well. Neither are as good as Quad 1 wins, but these two categories are still very important as well. Michigan State’s resume recently improved in these two categories as well thanks to Minnesota.

The Gophers just moved up to No. 75 in the NET rankings as of February 29. This means that the Spartans home win over the Gophers is now Quad 2 instead of Quad 3. This also means that the Spartans road loss Minnesota is now a Quad 1 loss. You might think losses don’t really matter for MSU’s tournament resume, but Quad 1 losses are never viewed as a bad loss by the selection committee. So the more losses that are considered Quad 1 the better for Michigan State.

It’s hard to cheer for other teams under any circumstances, but MSU fans have a good reason too now. Indiana State, Maryland, and Minnesota finishing strong directly benefits Michigan State’s NCAA Tournament resume. So maybe indirectly cheering for these three teams isn’t such a bad thing.

The Spartans also have a Quad 1 opportunity this weekend against Purdue. This is their last Quad 1 game of the regular season, and a win against Purdue would eliminate any chance of Michigan State basketball missing the NCAA Tournament.